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The CITE, a blog published by the National Association of College Stores, takes a look at the intersection of education and technology, highlighting issues that range from course materials to learning delivery to the student experience. Comments, discussion, feedback, and ideas are welcome.

Thursday, March 24, 2016

Silicon Valley Shares Its Expertise

Silicon Valley entrepreneurs are morphing the concept
of massive open online courses (MOOCs) into 10-minute mini-MOOCs. Known as 10 Minute Insights,
the series of mobile-enabled, live-streamed videos are hosted by innovators talking
about a variety of topics.

One unusual feature of the videos is viewers are able
to ask questions directly of the presenters during the live-streaming event,
even on their mobile devices, according to a report in eCampus News. The micro-learning classes are hosted on the social knowledge
platform EdCast, with many presenters scheduling their broadcasts in advance to
notify those interested in participating.

There are no credits or credentials offered for taking
the micro-courses. Instead, the goal is to help entrepreneurs, students, and
small-business owners develop baseline business skills.

“There
is a huge demand for knowledge and skills in entrepreneurship right now, as
often it can be more efficient to create a job than to find one in today’s
economy,” said Karl Mehta, founder and CEO of EdCast. “Silicon Valley,
specifically, is well-suited for imparting advice on how to scale
entrepreneurial skills rapidly.”